TUSTEN, NY — Putting together this year’s school budget was arduous, the Sullivan West superintendent told the Tusten town board at its May 14 meeting.

During her end-of-the-school-year update, Dr. Kathleen Bressler described the tension the district faced as $2 million in state aid hung in the balance. The cut—reflecting a 17 percent drop from the previous year—was set to go through but canceled at the last minute. Ultimately, Sullivan West’s aid stayed the same. 

Voters on Tuesday approved the district’s $42 million budget, 312-81.

The “hold harmless” provision, which keeps state aid levels steady from one year to the next, was intended to create stability for schools as they drafted their budgets. In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would end the provision because many schools have lost population since the provision went into effect. She said the state is “literally funding empty classrooms” and promised to take “a closer assessment” of the funding formula for next year.

Bressler said she knows enrollment is a concern. Recent decreases were expected because some large classes graduated in the last couple of years. But enrollment has been stable, she said, and actually increased ever so slightly: by less than one percent. And she said the entering kindergarten class this September is a healthy and larger-than-expected size of 80 students.

Bressler said Sullivan West intends to plan in advance for possible changes to the formula. The district will continue to “make sure we are staying lean and make those small cuts where we can,” she said.

If the hold harmless provision is canceled, districts that are losing population will be subject to sudden drops in aid. Sullivan West has lost 43 percent of its population since the district was first created, from 1,755 students in 1999-20 to 995 in 2022-23.

Critics of canceling the hold harmless provision say it would hurt rural schools most. In Sullivan County overall, public school enrollment decreased by 21 percent from 2002-03 to 2023-24, according to a recent report by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress. At least 28,000 fewer children under 14 are living in the Hudson Valley now than in 2010, and public schools currently serve some 45,000 fewer students than during peak enrollment in 2002-03.

Transportation makes up the biggest chunk of the Sullivan West budget, Bressler said. The district proposed a 2.99 percent increase to the tax levy. The tax levy cap is 3 percent.

Bressler said Sullivan West wants to continue its farm-to-school programming in partnership with Sullivan 180, and to bring healthy options to the cafeteria with A Single Bite, a nonprofit group in Liberty that distributes fresh produce to schools and food pantries. The district also plans to expand its outdoor agricultural garden and eventually open the space to the community during the summer, Bressler said.